Authorities search for killer of UT dance student

Video recordsperson of interest in campus slaying

By Eleanor Dearman and Kolten Parker, San Antonio Express-News

April 7, 2016Updated: April 7, 2016 9:18pm

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Haruka Weiser

Haruka Weiser

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University of Texas students embrace Thursday during a gathering for ﻿Haruka Weiser, 18, ﻿whose body was discovered Tuesday in a creek ﻿on the ﻿Austin campus﻿. ﻿Weiser was a first-year dance student from Oregon. less

University of Texas students embrace Thursday during a gathering for ﻿Haruka Weiser, 18, ﻿whose body was discovered Tuesday in a creek ﻿on the ﻿Austin campus﻿. ﻿Weiser was a first-year dance student ... more

Photo: Eric Gay, STF

Authorities search for killer of UT dance student

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AUSTIN - Hundreds of students and University of Texas officials paid respects on campus Thursday night to Haruka Weiser, the freshman theater and dance major whose body was found Tuesday in a wooded area near the heart of the campus.

Weiser, 18, of Portland, Ore., was identified by authorities Thursday morning as the victim of a homicide that the university's president called a "brutal murder." Details of her death have not been released.

Weiser was last seen Sunday around 9:30 p.m. leaving the drama building on campus, police said at an afternoon news conference.

"We gather because life is precious and Haruka was precious. Precious to us," Brant Pope, Department of Theatre and Dance chairman, said, addressing the crowd Thursday night that had many theater and dance students clustered at the front. "We gather to promise we will never forget."

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Former student government president Xavier Rotnofsky led a moment of silence on the normally busy East Mall. UT President Gregory Fenves and representatives from the College of Fine arts also expressed their condolences.

Police released a video Thursday showing a "person of interest" in Weiser's slaying. Troy Gay, assistant chief with the Austin Police Department, said the agency believes the person is a male approximately 6 feet tall.

The video appeared to show a man with a bike around the UT football stadium. Gay said a weapon has not been recovered.

"She had communicated with one of her friends so we were pretty confident that we knew the direction she had traveled and the way she had traveled back to her dormitory," Gay said. "She never made it to her dormitory that night."

Weiser's roommates called university police on Monday and reported her missing around 11:30 a.m. Gay said the agency spoke with roommates and friends.

"Haruka Weiser was a beloved member of our dance community, liked and admired by her classmates and respected by her professors for her intelligence and spirit," Fenves said at the news conference. He said Weiser was recruited by dance faculty members from her Portland high school.

Calls made to numbers associated with Weiser's parents were not returned. Her family released a statement.

"Haruka, our beloved daughter, sister and friend was taken from us too soon. The pain from our sudden and tragic loss is unfathomable.…Words cannot express the outpouring of love we have received."

The campus will stay open, and classes and events will continue, but increased security measures will be taken, Fenves said. He encouraged students to stay safe and alert on campus and avoid walking alone.

Fenves said university police will work to expand and oversee the school's SURE Walk program, which escorts students walking across campus. Fenves said he also asked state police to conduct a safety and security review, including video monitoring, outdoor lighting, and building security, as well as other safety measures.

The Associated Press reported Weiser's was the first on-campus homicide since former Marine Charles Whitman climbed to the top of UT's bell tower on Aug. 1, 1966, and opened fire, killing 16 people and wounding scores of others.